New Vintage Scuba YouTube Channel

[AhoyFed]

That manifold and the non-reserve model is made by XS-Scuba under contract for Aqua Lung. SEALs do very little open-circuit Scuba but Scuba-rated military divers do.

I can't say what it is like now or in all branches but we had to get special permission to use single tanks and single hose regulators on the Bathyscaph Trieste when I was a support diver. The av-gas used for buoyancy would leak and destroy the corrugated rubber hoses on the Royal Aqua Masters. It didn't do my brand-new custom wetsuit that Dick Long just made any good either. They let us use single tanks because getting her ready to dive required a few days of frequent climbing aboard the ladder-less hull, which would be dangerous with doubles. Her draft was less than 30'.

The older 3-piece manifolds were a PITA. They used metal-to-metal seats, identical to commercial Oxygen cylinders if I remember correctly. You had to spend hours twisting them back and forth with abrasive seating compounds to repair tiny flaws that develop over time.

Quite a few details on US valves and regulators were adopted from the commercial gas industry because they designed and manufactured a lot of it in the 1950s and early 60s. It reduced tooling costs and the designs were proven.

I had a Sherwood 3 piece manifold (sold now) that I used on my 72s for a while and it was a PITA to assemble and disassemble. Luckily, the manifold didn't have any huge flaws in the metal-to-metal seats, although it did require a BFW to seal it. I could've sworn that wrench was at least 3 feet long!

From what I've seen, the SEALS only use the aqualung mentor and conshelf systems during the drown-proofing phase, where the instructors rip off their masks and tangle their hoses and shut off their air, with the intention of making them confident problem solvers. It also is a quick way to weed out those who aren't comfortable in the water. I think there are some videos on YouTube showing this.

I would've figured the Navy would have provided you with wetsuits for the task! Or maybe a painters overall cover so you didn't get the gas on your suit. Is it true there was a list of single hose regulators that were approved for Navy use, like the original MR12 and the original Calypso?

AhoyFed

 

[AhoyFed]

Here’s the new video for those interested. Are there any topics you guys are interested in seeing? I’m going to break out the double hose regulator’s next week.

Also, there’s the giveaway active. To enter, subscribe to my YouTube channel and comment on this video the location of your favourite dive spot. The winner will receive the prizes described in the video. Watch it to find out (only open to residents of the US and Canada)

AhoyFed

 

[Erich S]

Part of my Basic Scuba course in 1976, during an open water dive, the instructor would come from behind turn off our air and remove our masks at the same time. Ah, the good old days!

 

[Akimbo]

From what I've seen, the SEALS only use the aqualung mentor and conshelf systems during the drown-proofing phase, where the instructors rip off their masks and tangle their hoses and shut off their air, with the intention of making them confident problem solvers. It also is a quick way to weed out those who aren't comfortable in the water.

They do that to all divers trained by the Navy. I had Marines, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard in the Scuba phase of Second Class Diver School. By that point we had worked so hard and experienced enough mini-harassment dives that nobody in my class failed.

I would've figured the Navy would have provided you with wetsuits for the task!

They did, pay for it that is. They took me down to Dick's dive shop, Diving Unlimited in La Mesa, on the next morning after reporting for duty on the Trieste. It fit PERFECT and was the first suit I had to that point that did. The irony is Dick learned to make wetsuits at Stan's Dive Shop in San Jose, near where I grew up. I could have been toasty-warm diving in Monterey all those years before joining the Navy if I had any idea that a custom suit made that kind of difference.

Or maybe a painters overall cover so you didn't get the gas on your suit.

Overalls won't stop AvGas. Commercial divers often wear overalls for abrasion protection but petrochemicals soak right through. It is actually worse with viscous crude oil because the overalls soak up the floating crude on the surface and attach the Neoprene during the whole dive instead of washing some of it away once you descent below the gunk.

Is it true there was a list of single hose regulators that were approved for Navy use, like the original MR12 and the original Calypso?

There still is a list but it is much larger. NEDU only had their breathing machine a few years and I don't think that any single hose regulators were officially approved in the early 1970s. They gave the command that I fell under "special authorization" to use the US Diver Calypso, which is the same regulator that was in the Kirby Morgan Band Masks that we locked out with.

A team on our system made it to 1010 about a month after my lockout. My lockout was a world depth record for saturation diving. Their record, was a depth record for diving, beating Hannes Keller's 1,000' Dive in 1960. The big difference is nobody died, bottom time was limited to the tube-trailer size gas storage onboard, 12 more years of technological progress, and more than $100 million invested developing sat diving by the Navy.

 

[AhoyFed]

Part of my Basic Scuba course in 1976, during an open water dive, the instructor would come from behind turn off our air and remove our masks at the same time. Ah, the good old days!

Imagine that now! Students would complain or drop out of the course!

 

[AhoyFed]

They do that to all divers trained by the Navy. I had Marines, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard in the Scuba phase of Second Class Diver School. By that point we had worked so hard and experienced enough mini-harassment dives that nobody in my class failed.



They did, pay for it that is. They took me down to Dick's dive shop, Diving Unlimited in La Mesa, on the next morning after reporting for duty on the Trieste. It fit PERFECT and was the first suit I had to that point that did. The irony is Dick learned to make wetsuits at Stan's Dive Shop in San Jose, near where I grew up. I could have been toasty-warm diving in Monterey all those years before joining the Navy if I had any idea that a custom suit made that kind of difference.



Overalls won't stop AvGas. Commercial divers often wear overalls for abrasion protection but petrochemicals soak right through. It is actually worse with viscous crude oil because the overalls soak up the floating crude on the surface and attach the Neoprene during the whole dive instead of washing some of it away once you descent below the gunk.



There still is a list but it is much larger. NEDU only had their breathing machine a few years and I don't think that any single hose regulators were officially approved in the early 1970s. They gave the command that I fell under "special authorization" to use the US Diver Calypso, which is the same regulator that was in the Kirby Morgan Band Masks that we locked out with.

A team on our system made it to 1010 about a month after my lockout. My lockout was a world depth record for saturation diving. Their record, was a depth record for diving, beating Hannes Keller's 1,000' Dive in 1960. The big difference is nobody died, bottom time was limited to the tube-trailer size gas storage onboard, 12 more years of technological progress, and more than $100 million invested developing sat diving by the Navy.

Hannes Keller’s 1000’ Dive sure was a leap into the unknown and unfortunately costed people their lives. After reading the various articles and stories about the dive, I’m surprised more people didn’t die. These divers really were “flying by the seat of their pants” especially with mixed gas diving in the 1950s and early 1960s. And Keller’s dive was done on a shoe-string budget compared to what the USN performed.

While speaking about historical diving events and accidents, Akimbo do you happen to know about the SeaLab III incident where the diver died from using the rebreather without a scrubber? That’s the only incident that really sticks out when I try comparing the USN’s safety record to others. Can’t really remember any other accidents involving diving!

AhoyFed

 

[AhoyFed]

New video is up! I’m discussing Piston regulators. I tried to make it as simple as possible. Hopefully I succeeded. Let me know what you guys think!


AhoyFed

 

[Akimbo]

These divers really were “flying by the seat of their pants” especially with mixed gas diving in the 1950s and early 1960s.

It was a classic case of nobody knows much about the unknown. Given Keller's lead-up dives and work with Dr Albert Bühlmann, it seemed fairly reasonable from their perspective. It is also a classic case of project timelines getting ahead of people. In hindsight, it is easy to see the lack of testing and experience at sea catching them flat-footed.

While speaking about historical diving events and accidents, Akimbo do you happen to know about the SeaLab III incident where the diver died from using the rebreather without a scrubber?

Wow, talk about project timelines getting ahead of people. See: Berry Cannon & Sealab III, 50 years ago today. I believe Senior Chief Paul Wells was made a scapegoat. The Navy had a lot of reasons to pull the plug on Sealab to free up talent and resources for much more important projects, aside from the habitat concept having proven to be impractical.

 

[Pacediver]

Nice and informative

 

[AhoyFed]

Excellent write-up on SeaLab III, Akimbo. Knowing that you had person experience in Saturation Diving as well as actually working with and speaking to men who were SeaLab III divers validates your write-up!

AhoyFed